What Inspires You To Wander? Our Travel Inspirations

What inspires you to wander? One of the main reasons why we (Lauren & Lindsay) started Inspire To Wander was to help people travel more often. We want to show that it’s possible for everyone to introduce more travel into their lives, no matter what. Through weekly Twitter chats, beautiful travel photography, and travel advice, we’ve been so amazed by the beautiful wanderings by our community members – our I2Wanderers!

We thought it would be fun to ask the I2W community one simple question: what inspires you to wander? Everyone has their own reasons for travel, and we received a variety of replies. No matter what the reason, we’re happy that so many of you are getting out to see the world.

Here’s what so many of you had to say, and we’re very inspired by all of you!

GEMMA FROM BRIGHTON, UK

I have always found that the world is much too big and too interesting to me to stay in one place! I particularly love exploring beyond the beaten path, especially if that involves hiking and/paddling. Travelling that bit further usually means I get to experiece amazing places with little or no other people around at all. And that’s not the only reason. There is much beauty in nature and I want to experience all of it – see the highest mountain, the deepest lake, the lushest rainforests and the most beautiful views!

DEAH FROM TEXAS, USA

I love to travel and I get really inspired by people’s photographs. In fact, my first travels were caused by amazing photos in the 6th grade World Geography I was using in my classroom- I just had to see those places for myself!

DANN FROM MEXICO

It might seem weird, but I actually love visiting places inspired by books. I really enjoy reading about a particular location and then travelling to it. I feel like a character from the story for a while and it is magical. I also have a lot of context about the place I’m visiting, since the books tend to explain some of the history of the location. I have been to 221B Baker street, to platform 9 3/4, to Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral, and many other bookish places around the world. I am reading new material and I can’t wait to travel and see the locations in real life!

AMANDA FROM MICHIGAN, USA

The word “wander” is often associated with aimlessness. But to me, wandering is about the purposeful unraveling of allowing life to simply happen. To me, to best way to wander is to travel. To taste new cuisine. To hear new sounds from a musician at a jazz cafe. To say hello to a stranger. To walk the streets that beckon you. To see natural wonders that stir the soul. To live curiously. Being inspired to wander is to lead with an open heart and return home with a full heart. Being inspired to wander isn’t aimless; it’s persistence to explore.

ANDRA FROM ROMANIA

My passion for stories is what inspires me to travel. I always dream of going to new places, discovering the people and especially their culture. For me the best part about traveling is talking with locals, trying to learn about their way of life, their beliefs, their dreams. Books have always played a prominent role in my travel life. Reading about a place has always made me want to go there and see it with my own eyes. From India’s bazaars to the Himalayan villages, from jungles to isolated islands, from hectic and crowded cities to historical sights, each place has its own story. And the souls that inhabit these places are the messengers, waiting to share legends and fairy tales, myths and romances, to capture one’s imagination. Traveling is about facing the world and getting to know the world inside you better.

SUPRIYA FROM INDIA

I am a wanderer by heart since my childhood days. But I didn’t get enough chances to travel around. As being a female, it was not easy to travel alone in my country. It was only after getting married to love of my life (Aditya), I was able to quench my thirst of wanderlust. But the biggest turning point in our life came after the birth of our angel (karen). When I was unknowingly carrying her, we went for trekking to mighty ‘Triund’ at McleodGanj, Dharmashala (India). And with that awesome experience of trekking with our UNBORN child, we never looked back and keep traveling plus exploring new places even after her birth. She become our True inspiration to travel and breaking stereotype of society that one could not travel much with a kid. Now, we started jotting down our travel stories right from the beginning of our child’s existence. We hope our girl would love to read them when she will grow up and get inspiration to explore this world better than us. So, we hope that people like us would get inspire and explore this beautiful planet.

JESSY FROM PENNSYLVANIA, USA

I travel to open myself to possibility. I travel to experience the unknown. There is something about exploring a new place that tickles my senses with excitement. I feel complete with every sunset and amazed with each new mountain top view. I am filled with an indescribable joy when I encounter new faces, new smiles and a different style of living. My heart overflows with each new wildlife encounter and every kiss from a friendly dog. I wander to discover the undiscovered. I travel to seek. I travel to know. I travel to heal. I travel with the heart of a wonderer, memorized by all that I encounter along the way.

RYAN FROM PHILADELPHIA, USA

Food! To put it simply, I travel to eat. I want to try everything, everywhere. I want to eat food I love in its native habitat, and I want to discover food I’ve never heard about. Food is culture, and I want to experience as much of it as I can.

KATIE FROM SHREWSBURY, UK

The reason I wander is quite personal, but one I like to share as it’s a life lesson for us all! The reason is my Grandfather who I’ve never met. My Mum has only told me a few stories about him but one in particular sticks with me. She told me how he had worked hard all of his life and saved where he could for the time he retired. Unfortunately, he never made it to retirement and never got to do the many things he had planned. When I heard this story, I knew I had to get out there I do all the things I wanted to do and see all the things I wanted to see before I got stuck in a routine! I hope my travels are something he would have been proud of.

DEBORAH FROM WINNIPEG, CANADA

My spouse travels very frequently for work and I tag along as often as possible. My main motivation for travelling is to maintain our relationship. Apart from that, I love the feeling of being somewhere new to me. It breaks up the routine of life, if offers surprises, new insights, and opportunities to connect with people from other walks of life. Even when I tag along to places that are not on the “hot list” of places to go, there is always something to discover and appreciate. I love that!

MICHELLE FROM TORONTO, CANADA

Travel is a way of connecting with the world. It’s how you venture outside of your bubble, step away from what you know, and venture into the unknown. Travel can connect you with the past (and the future) while remaining in the present. When you go forth into the world, you leave the everyday and enter into adventure; you learn, you free your soul, you grow as a person. At the end of your life you have only memories and photographs to connect you with places you’ve loved, people you’ve connected with, things you saw and events you experienced; for making memories is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves; for that is life. Travel is simply….living.

KEVIN FROM HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA

Traveling to new places and meeting new people but at the same time, I’m inspired by going back to places I like and seeing people in those places I like. Travel is about adventure but it’s also sometimes like being in a place that’s like a home away from home. I am also inspired by simply TALKING about travel, whether its sharing my adventures or listening to others talk about destinations or event events. Yes, let’s not forget about events for travel inspiration such as music, wine/beer festivals or something fun happening in a city like, say, the Running of the Bulls or Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. Or even a sports event.

STEVEN FROM SCOTLAND

The feeling of being surrounded by new cultures and having a whole new destination to explore inspires me to wander! I absolutely love having a list of sights to see/things to do, then heading out for a day of snap happy adventures – no routine commute to the office, no “watercooler chat” – just lots of suncream and a camera! I was always stressing that I could never make friends when travelling because I’m a bit of an introvert but the amount of people I’ve build strong connections with is awesome! I usually stress about loads of things while I’m travelling but it’s amazing for “immersion therapy” to help battle any anxieties I have. Also, I just *love* having loads of travel stories to tell all of my friends!

ROXANNA FROM CHAMPAIGN, IL, USA

The world has called me since I was a young child. I feel like there is so much beauty and so much to learn, and that I must take in as much as possible in order for my life to be complete. When I am in a new place of natural beauty, it often overwhelms me, and it is amazing to me that at 52 years old I can still stand in a place and feel as if I have never seen something quite beautiful. In the same way, I am utterly fulfilled when I can stand in a church, castle, or even ruin, and know that people have stood in this same place for thousands of years. For me, these experiences are the very essence of living my best life.

KERRY FROM ONTARIO, CANADA

I have been inspired to wander since my parents and grandparents instilled that desire in me, from a young age, the notion that my curiosity pushes me forward and can be my strongest quality. The ways in which the wider world opens my eyes is the biggest reason and the incentive that keeps me searching, looking, seeking out all the life experiences I can, to examine all things from multiple angles. I no longer see the world with much physical ability, which fuels my need to find beauty in all other ways possible. I’ve learned, through medical conditions such as dialysis and kidney transplant also, that there is so much to discover and time isn’t guaranteed, a precious gift.

CHARLOTTE & DAVID FROM BRIGHTON, UK

We are inspired to travel because we love exploring new countries and meeting new people, but most importantly because we love trying exciting new foods! We are vegans and we love the fact that we are able to follow a plant based diet wherever we are in the world. Sure, some countries are more difficult than others but thats part of the fun! We think that you get an idea of the soul of a country by exploring its food. We are also passionate about the environment and try to travel as green as we can – when we see how beautiful the world is on our travels it makes us feel strongly about protecting it!

KAREN FROM KAMLOOPS, BC, CANADA

The desire to experience new places and see new sights & sounds & smells & food & people. I Don’t want to be one, who regrets not taking the chance to have experiences. My first international trip was with my daughter, when she was 12, we went to Oahu, Hawaii. We had a blast. That’s when the travel bug got me & it hasn’t let go, and I’m ok with that. 😎 Plus all the Blogs, Pinterest, Photos, Instagram & Snapchat, its all the people sharing their feelings & excitement that inspire me to wander!

ORLA AND NEIL FROM DUBLIN, IRELAND

The very notion of us getting into a car, a train or onto a plane to seek a new adventure, thrills us no end. We are firm believers that this world we call home, is worth sharing with everyone around us. Learning to remember to stop every so often, soak in the landscape around us and just be in it, is a skill that takes time to hone and we believe only learned from travel. Taking some time to explore, or in our case (hopefully) a lifetime, is worth trading any other life for. Capturing the little moments in between, whether it’s with pen and paper or a camera, drives us to seek out experiences. It is the connection with people, culture and the overwhelming, awe-inspiring beauty of the landscape we surround ourselves in, is what truly inspires us to travel.

ADAM FROM ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, USA

There are two quotes that inspire me to wander: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list” and “the world is a book, those who do not travel read only one page”. The world may be small but what can be done and learned about it is vast. I never want to stop learning about the world. Part of doing that is to wander. Every place has it’s own character/vibe, sights, smells, food, and people – even our own “backyards”. Life moves too fast to not travel and I don’t want to know how I would feel if I wasn’t able to wander.

LINDSAY FROM ONTARIO, CANADA

Honestly, it’s all about the experience for me. Travel teaches you so much that you can’t learn in a classroom, not just about the world but about yourself as well. There are so many things I’ve accomplished that I don’t think I would have the confidence to do if it wasn’t for travel. Our world is full of so many amazing places, it would be a sin to not explore them! Not only that, I find the more I travel abroad, the more I’m inspired to travel within my home country of Canada and for this I’m incredibly thankful for. The more I wander the provinces and territories, the more proud I am to be Canadian! Plus if it wasn’t for travel, I wouldn’t have met so many amazing people that I’m grateful to now call my friends!

LAUREN FROM ONTARIO, CANADA

I’m continually inspired to wander more and more. The more I travel, the more I want to do it. My bucket list keeps growing and I want to travel all over the world. There’s just so many places to discover and explore. I love seeing vast landscapes and nature I never imagined I’d see beyond a photograph. There’s nothing like learning about how people and cultures from around the world, and the ways we are both different and similar. The world is such a wonderful and amazing place. The more I see of it, the more that I have a slightly greater understanding of it all…and the more questions I have. It’s important to stay curious and travel is such a great way to invest in yourself.

Have you joined the Inspire To Wander travel community yet? It’s free, fun, and a great way to connect with fellow travel lovers! Check us out on Facebook. Join us on Twitter every Tuesday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT for the #InspireToWander travel chat.